Despite the attention given to passenger service and its depots, the main railroad business in Woodstock and Shenandoah County was freight. The region exported hundreds of carloads of agricultural products each year while importing heavy machinery,…

Trains belong to the Manassas Gap Railroad first arrived in Woodstock on August 27, 1856. The following year, a two stall engine house was constructed near this site. This structure would be destroyed during the Civil War. In 1885 a depot was…

In 1834 Dr. John G. Schmitt, a Swiss immigrant, arrived in Woodstock Virginia. Schmitt, who was physician, soon opened a drug store on Main Street. In those days, before modern medical practices, a doctor often served as both your doctor and…

In 1777 public records show that a house on this lot was willed to Anthony Knicely’s wife upon his death. This is most likely the first reference to the structure that is now known as the Wickham House. The original portion of this house is on the…

Around 1772 the front portion of this house, made of dressed limestone, was built on Muhlenberg Street in Woodstock. It was one of the few houses in town that was not a log structure. This fact highlights the wealth and privilege associated with the…

Massanutten Academy began in September of 1899 when the Virginia Classis of the Reformed Church opened the school in the residence of former US Senator H.H. Riddleberger which had been enlarged to serve as classrooms and the boy’s dormitory. The…

On July 4, 1867 a "Dr. Brown" visited Woodstock and preached at a “colored” camp meeting. This meeting laid the foundation of what is today Mt. Zion Methodist Church. The following year members of Woodstock’s African American community had raised…

Constructed in 1906, this building replaced a stone jail that had been built 100 years earlier. That structure featured a jail yard, wooden fence, and small, dark cells that were called the “dungeon.” This new jail was designed to improve…

In the summer of 1908 the Woodstock School Trustees completed this new, brick High School to serve as the area’s Graded and High School. Plans for it were started in 1906 and construction began the following year. A private donation of $3,000 from…

In April 1795 county justices ordered construction of a new stone courthouse on this lot. It would be constructed of native valley limestone. Courthouses served as a symbol of law and order. For this reason, county leaders designed the building to be…